Take a look inside this new health care centre in Rutland

There’s an early morning buzz among the staff who’ve arrived for work at the newly-opened Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC) in Rutland.

It’s an excitement that comes with doing something new and important for a community whose ethnically diverse population is growing exponentially but has been overlooked in the past.

“We heard the community and their need,” Luke Brimmage, Director of Primary Care for Interior Health (IH) Central Okanagan told Kelowna10 as he showed off the new facility. “There’s been a lack of access to care in the community for a long time.”

The walk-in space is designed to attend to non-emergency needs, so someone who is seeking a health-care provider within 12 to 24 hours.

The facility is surprisingly big. There’s an expansive check-in and waiting area, an assessment area once a patient is called through, and then over a dozen private rooms offering comprehensive team-based care.

Once fully staffed, IH said there will be more than 33 professionals working on site. These will include family physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, physiotherapists and a community health worker.

“It’s difficult for a lot of folks to travel into Kelowna to seek care, so this really brings care to their community, and allows for us to focus on their needs and localize services,” Brimmage explained.

An example of the modern technology available is a digital virtual linguistic translator that can instantly translate across multiple languages what doctor and patient are saying in a conversation.

Ryan Kole is a Team Lead on staff and a Rutland resident.

“It’s long overdue to have all these diverse professionals under one roof,” Kole said. “It’s a unique opportunity not only to see a doctor but nurses, physiotherapists, and social workers, seven days a week.”

Overall, Rutland health services continue to improve. Physicians with the locally established Aurora Health Clinic will move into the new UPCC facility while a public health nursing team will move into their old offices.

The UPCC is located at the corner of Highway 33 and Rutland Road, in the parking lot behind the Valley First credit union.

It is currently open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, but those hours will expand to 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. from Dec.8. for urgent care needs.

Patients with longitudinal care needs can visit Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“I can’t put into words how exciting it is to have this UPCC opening in Rutland,” Kole said. “It’s something the community should be really proud of and embrace and learn what we’re about.”